Elderberries are one of the oldest remedies in European herbal medicine. A traditional flu and cold remedy used in traditional folk medicine for centuries to treat upper respiratory infections.

In the medieval period people used to plant Elderberry trees outside their front doors to keep out evil spirits. Babies cots were often made of elderberry wood which was supposed to protect babies from being pinched black and blue by faeries, probably a reference to a haemorrhagic disease in babies.

Elderberries have antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anti inflammatory, antiviral and anti-cancer properties.

Elderberries Inhibit Replication of SARS-CoV-2

No need to be panicked by the mainstream media’s scaremongering stories of a return of a new variant of Covid this coming Autumn as
recent scientific research carried out in Germany has confirmed traditional folk usage by demonstrating that Elderberry extracts not only inhibit Influenza A & B viruses, but also inhibit all SARS-Cov2 variants of concern including, alpha, beta, delta and omicron variants and probably any new ones that appear.

Human clinical trials have shown black elderberry extracts reduce symptom severity and duration of viral infections, in particular influenza A and B virus.

Concentrated Elderberry juice has been shown to inhibit viral replication in mice bronchial fluids infected with human influenza A virus.

The main active ingredients identified in Elderberries are anthocyanins (cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-sambubioside, cyanidin-3-sambubioside-5-glucoside) and the phenolic compounds chlorogenic acid, rutin and isoquercitrin.

Anthocyanins are red, blue, purple pigments found in many fruits and vegetables. They belong to a class of compounds called flavonoids that have potent antioxidant properties enabling them to mop up toxic free radicals which can cause cell damage.

Interestingly another anthocyanin rich fruit, raspberries, are a traditional folk remedy in Russia. A spoon of raspberry jam is dissolved in black tea and drunk at the onset of flu and colds.

Phenolic compounds are aromatic chemicals found in many plants.

Isoquercitrin has shown potent antiviral activity against other viruses including the herpes virus Varicella Zoster, human Cytomegalovirus and influenza A.

Chlorogenic acid has shown antiviral activity against different viral strains of influenza A and Enterovirus 71.

Rutin, another main phenolic compound found in black elderberry extract demonstrated an inhibition of a SARS-CoV-2 protease 3CLpro which might also contribute to the antiviral effect of elderberry extract.

As a herbalist I would definitely recommend a daily dose of elderberry juice or extract as prophylactic protection against colds, including Covid, and flu’s as we go into Autumn/Winter.

*Setz C. et al
Nutraceuticals 2023, 3(1), 91-106; https://doi.org/10.3390/nutraceuticals3010007